14 August 2019

Teledermatology service at UH Bristol saves patients hours of travel time for routine appointments

Doctors in Bristol are providing remote assistance for patients
with skin problems - saving them hours of travel time and meaning
they don't need to attend hospital for a routine
appointment.

University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust is at the
leading edge of teledermatology and now carries out around 4,000
consultations a year through the system.

Teledermatology allows patients to book a consultation about
their skin condition with their GP at their local medical
practice.

Their GP carries out a normal consultation, taking notes and
high quality photographs of their condition. These are all uploaded
to a special secure computer system and sent to the dermatology
department at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.

A dermatologist then reviews and responds to the GP, on average
within a day-and-a-half, providing guidance on how to care for the
patient and whether further investigation or hospital care is
needed.

UH Bristol was one of the first NHS Trusts to use
teledermatology and now carries out consultations through the
system to patients as far south as Taunton, reducing waiting and
travel times for patients.

More than 70% of patients using this system are now seen and
managed in their own GP practice without a hospital visit.

UH Bristol's new five year vision for 2025, 'Embracing Change,
Proud to Care', highlights how it plans to grow teledermatology as
a way of supporting care closer to home.

David de Berker, a consultant dermatologist at UH Bristol
(pictured above), said: "We have been developing our
teledermatology service for nearly 10 years and it has now become a
central part of our way of delivering care to patients. It relies
on close collaboration with GPs who are a key part in caring for
patients with skin disease, saving patient waits, travel and
enabling those without local hospital services to access consultant
opinions."

GP Tony Wright, who is based at Polden Medical Practice in
Somerset, said: "The teledermatology service is an essential part
of dermatology at Polden Medical Practice.

"For patients, there are a number of benefits including that
they can get an opinion without having to travel a long journey to
hospital. The service at UH Bristol is excellent and provides a
quick response, meaning patients can have an appointment close to
home with their GP.

"From a doctor's perspective it's also a really valuable
service, which is really reassuring and helps GPs to gain education
about dermatology from the specialists in Bristol."

Patients have welcomed the service.

Vanessa Wilson Fitzgerald, from Sutton Mallett, said: "I think
this is a very good idea because it saves people long journeys to
the dermatology department in Bristol.

"It's marvellous as I've been seen quickly and been advised I'll
receive a quick result."

Joe Bass, who lives in Edington, added: "It's been an absolutely
wonderful service. I was given the results on the day of my
appointment and talked it through with the dermatologist and we
decided on the best course of treatment. It's been fantastic."

Peter Wall, who lives near Bridgwater, said: "This is such a
good idea. It saves me a lot of time as it would take me a good
hour or so to get into Bristol, park and get to the appointment and
then I'd need to travel around an hour to get home again.

"With the teledermatology service I can get to my local GP in 10
minutes. It's excellent and is certainly the way forward."